WHO declares Eris a Covid ‘variant of interest’ (GS Paper 2, Health)
Why in news?
- The World Health Organisation (WHO) recently classified the EG.5 coronavirus strain, which is currently circulating in the United States, UK and China, as a ‘variant of interest’.
- Despite its rapid spread and prevalence, accounting for over 17 per cent of cases in the US, the WHO has stated that it does not appear to pose a greater threat to public health than other existing variants.
EG.5 coronavirus strain:
- Eris is a descendant of Omicron and shares some of its symptoms, including runny nose, headache, fatigue (ranging from mild to severe), sneezing and a sore throat.
- This strain has also been detected in several other countries including South Korea, Japan, and Canada.
- The WHO's risk evaluation indicated that the EG.5 variant, a descendant of the Omicron strain, does not present additional public health risks compared to other circulating lineages of the same parent strain.
- However, the organisation has called for a more comprehensive evaluation of the potential risks posed by this variant.
Covid-19 pandemic:
- Since the outbreak of Covid-19, the virus has claimed the lives of over 6.9 million people worldwide, with more than 768 million confirmed cases reported.
- The pandemic status of the outbreak was declared by the WHO in March 2020, but the global emergency status was lifted in May 2023.
Lack of data:
- The WHO expressed concern over the lack of Covid-19 data reporting from many countries, revealing that only 11 per cent had reported hospitalisations and ICU (intensive care unit) admissions related to the virus.
- In response, the WHO issued a set of recommendations urging countries to continue reporting Covid data, particularly mortality and morbidity data, and to persist in offering vaccinations.
Standing Committee on Economic Statistics renamed, MoS tells Parliament
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Why in news?
- The Standing Committee on Economic Statistics (SCES) has been renamed as Standing Committee on Statistics.
- The committee will advise Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on all surveys.
About Standing Committee on Statistics (SCoS):
- SCoS will review the extant framework and address the issues raised from time to time on the subject/results/methodology, etc related to all surveys as brought before SCoS by MoSPI.
- It will advise on survey methodology including sampling frame, sampling design, survey instruments, etc and to finalize tabulation plan of surveys. It will also aid finalization of survey results.
- The panel will provide guidance to conduct pilot surveys/pre-testing, if necessary, before finalizing schedules for data collection.
- It will also provide guidance for study and exploring the availability of administrative statistics relating to surveys/statistics.
- SCoS will also provide guidance for studying/identifying data gaps/additional data requirements, if any, in respect of surveys/statistics and suggest appropriate strategy for improvement.
- The panel will provide technical guidance to the central and state-level agencies for conducting the surveys.
- It will also look into any other matter relating to the surveys/survey results referred to SCoS by MoSPI from time to time.
Background:
- SCES chaired by former Chief Statistician Pronab Sen was set up in December 2019 for improving quality of data amid criticism of the government over political interference.
- In March 2019, expressing concerns over ‘political interference’ in influencing statistical data in India, as many as 108 economists and social scientists had called for restoration of ‘institutional independence’ and integrity to the statistical organisations.
- Their statement had come against the backdrop of a controversy over revision of gross domestic product (GDP) numbers and withholding employment data by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO).
- In November 2019, MoSPI had decided not to release the Consumer Expenditure Survey results of 2017-18, citing data quality issues.
